


Crossing Paths

by Qurinas



Category: Firefly
Genre: Angst, F/F, Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-08-13
Updated: 2003-08-13
Packaged: 2017-10-18 11:19:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/188372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qurinas/pseuds/Qurinas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An unfortunate encounter on the edge of space...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crossing Paths

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Contrelamontre "Love without being obvious" challenge on Livejournal.
> 
> Here are the challenge requirements:
> 
> This week, we're having a 'love without being obvious' challenge, because there's seriously way too much sap out there. No schmoop, people. Obviously, using word 'love' is prohibited, but there are also a few other things to remember:
> 
> 1\. The word "heart" is completely in banned in all contexts, metaphorical and anatomical. Love should be apparent without resorting to soppy metaphors and cheap physical descriptions of the emotion (i.e., "His heart fluttered excitedly in his chest as he looked on his One True Love.").
> 
> 2\. There can be extreme violence, extreme sex, or no action at all; love is not limited to a simple exchange of roses or a romantic dinner for two (or three, or etc).
> 
> The time limit for this challenge is sixty minutes.
> 
> Have fun!

"How can this be happening?" Kaylee sobbed, her tears drawing lines through the grime on her cheeks. "Why did they have to come across us? All this open-space and they found us!"

Inara gave her a soft look and a reassuring smile. "We can't think about that now. We need to get somewhere safe and hope they believe the ship is empty. Once they leave, we try and make it back to the bay and get on enviro-suits before life support fails. Once they are far enough away they won't detect it and realize they left survivors, we activate the distress beacon and wait for rescue. "

Kaylee sniffled and nodded her head. "Alright, Inara. You know, I always knew you'd be the one to look after me if I ever needed serious lookin' after." She chuckled, but it was obvious to Inara it was completely forced.

The companion looked about as she heard a blood-curdling scream that sent chills through her entire body. She thought the voice was male, but there was really no way to tell.

The two women had been crawling through the access tunnels and smuggling compartments of Serenity for the past hour, ever since the Reavers had boarded their ship. Captain Reynolds and Wash had done everything they could to try and evade the Reaver ship but to no avail. It was then he decided the crew would spilt-up and attempt to hide in the bowels of the ship while Mal and Jayne prepared a nasty surprise for their invaders.

Inara tried not to think about the fact that the last sustained gunfire they had heard stopped nearly forty-five minutes ago. Up until ten minutes ago, they had heard some sporadic fire, likely from the other members of Serenity's crew. But now, even that had stopped and the screaming had begun.

The cries that echoed through the ship couldn't even be described as human. The yowling and screeching of voices in horrible agony had already driven Kaylee and Inara to tears more than once since they had heard the first, likely Mal's or Jayne's.

"Come on," Inara said, trying to block out the screams and steel her resolve. We need to keep moving." Kaylee nodded and they began to crawl through the tunnels again. Each woman had a couple of guns they had taken from Jayne's armory. They had begun with a little extra ammunition, but they had fired at shadows already on a few occasions and the ammo they had was beginning to run a little low. Inara had already tossed aside one of her two weapons since it was already empty.

Inara didn't even have time to retrieve the box from her shuttle where she kept the instrument that would guarantee her a painless death if they were boarded. Her throat tightened and tears threatened her again at the thought.

Driving the thoughts away, Inara scrambled forward with Kaylee close behind. They stopped at the next intersection; the sounds of animalistic grunts and heavy footfalls nearby froze them in fear.

They both listened for long moments before the sounds receded and both gave a heavy sigh of relief. Inara reached out and gently took Kaylee's hand that held her pistol. "What are you doing?" Kaylee asked as Inara slowly took the pistol from her hand.

"Making sure that if we're totally humped, we have at least one way out," Inara answered. She popped the clip out of the small automatic and took the top two bullets out of it before returning it to the butt of the pistol. "There," Inara sighed as she slipped the bullets into her bodice.

Kaylee gulped but didn't say anything before they again began to move. They decided quickly they should head for the smuggling compartment just below the boarding platform. That way they could quickly make their way to the suits and they were furthest from the engine compartment in the event the Reavers destroying it caused an explosion.

It was then they heard more sounds behind them and shadows danced on the walls. Kaylee screamed in fright and raised her weapon. She fired three times, the sound was overwhelming in the enclosed space, before she scurried back and turned down the right-hand tunnel.

Inara took her own weapon and fired twice as a shape came around the corner. It fell in a howl of pain and surprise as Inara turned to follow Kaylee. They scurried along as fast as they could on their hands and knees. For good measure, they fired behind them a few times as the sounds of the Reavers grew louder.

Kaylee lead them on a dizzying series of turns as they made their way through the ship, demonstrating Kaylee's vast knowledge of her Firefly. They had both stopped, breathing heavily as the listened. "I think we lost 'em," Kaylee said with a weary smile.

"I hope so," Inara began as a flash of movement to her left caused her to jump and a mangled hand grabbed her ankle. Inara screamed as she saw an arm that was embedded with all forms of glass and metal, blood ran freely from it but the hand attached to it held her with an iron grip.

Reaching around the corner, the companion squeezed the trigger on her weapon. She felt it kick in her hand three times before it clicked impotently. But by then, the hand had released her and lay still upon the deck.

More movement could be heard down the other corridor as Kaylee began firing in that direction. "We need to go!" Kaylee screeched, fear causing the pitch of her voice to go up drastically.

"Let's go!" Inara yelled as she pushed Kaylee from behind, prodding her in the direction of their hiding place. As they made their way, they made a few unnecessary turns to throw off any pursuit and were soon at their hiding place.

Kaylee moved in front of Inara to open the hatch to the compartment. After the Ambassador had made her way in, the redheaded mechanic squirmed inside the small space and closed the hatch behind her, sliding a bolt through the latch to lock it.

On the floor was another hatch, but it had been welded shut. Kaylee sighed in disgust. "That is the only problem with this gor'am plan. I forgot we sealed this hatch after the fire a couple months ago. The deck below this is still actually open to space, the Captain never got around to going out and fixing it. I think he planned to next time we touched down somewhere we could get professional repairs."

The two women sat in silence for a moment before they set to the task of checking the weapons. Inara's pistol was empty, as was Kaylee's, and the mechanic's extra pistol had disappeared. Most likely, it had fallen from the pocket of her jumpsuit during one of the scuffles.

Kaylee took the clip out of her pistol and held it out to Inara. "Just in case," she said with a sad look in her large eyes. Inara wordlessly thumbed the two bullets into clip before Kaylee reinserted it into the pistol.

Thoughts spun through Inara's head as they sat listening for any sign of pursuit. They also hoped, in vain or so they believed, for sounds of life from other members of the crew. Dark emotions created a maelstrom of distress and pain in Inara's mind, only one pinprick of light existed. She was about to speak when they heard a noise. The Reavers had returned.

"This is it," Kaylee sobbed, fresh tears running down her cheeks. She raised the pistol and put it directly under her chin and flashed Inara what she thought would be one last smile.

Holding her breath, Inara looked on. For several long moments, Kaylee held the gun under her chin. Her hands were shaking and a moment later she lowered the gun. "I can't," Kaylee sobbed. "I can't do it."

The sounds of footfalls and grunts and shouts were growing ever louder as Inara stared at her in disbelief. "Please, Inara," Kaylee begged as she shoved the pistol into her hand. "I can't, and if there is anyone in the world I'd want to do this for me, it would be you."

Her head spinning, Inara held the pistol out at arm's length. She pointed the barrel at Kaylee's left breast, her hands trembling as sounds of the Reavers drew ever closer. Inara closed her eyes and slowly squeezed the trigger. CLICK! The metallic sound echoed around them seemingly far louder than any gunshot was capable of.

Kaylee's eyes grew wide and she sobbed uncontrollably. Inara checked the safety on the weapon and made sure it was set to fire. She quickly raised it again and squeezed the trigger. CLICK! Pulling the slide back, the cartridge flew out and hit the floor. Kaylee scrambled to pick it up.

Once she recovered the cartridge, she flipped it over and saw a small dent on the primer where the firing pin had hit it. The bullet didn't fire, it misfired. It was a dud. "No," Kaylee sobbed. "No."

Inara looked down at the gun helplessly as they heard loud banging above them as the Reavers beat against the locked hatch. "You use yours!" Kaylee shouted as she looked at Inara. "Quick, there isn't much time and there is only your bullet left!"

Looking down at the gun, Inara couldn't think of any better way to express what she had wanted to say to Kaylee than to act. She raised the gun again and pointed it at the redheaded mechanic's chest. "Goodbye, Kaylee," Inara said as she squeezed the trigger.

BANG! The small chamber filled with gun smoke and Inara's ears rang. Kaylee's eyes were already losing the light of life as she slid down the wall leaving a trail of blood. The young brunette moved to kneel over Kaylee's body as she breathed her last breath.

A strangled wail of anguish escaped her as she leaned down to press her lips hard against Kaylee's. She held her lips there as the Reavers banged on the hatch above. She tossed the gun aside and desperately scrambled to find another way to prevent her suffering. She found nothing.

Inara sat back against the bulkhead, sobbing into her hands. The words Zoe had told many of Serenity's passengers about the Reavers echoed in her mind as she sat there weeping. "If they take the ship, they'll rape us to death, eat our flesh and sew our skins into their clothing. And if we're very, very lucky, they'll do it in that order."

Even as Inara thought this, even as she wept and sobbed, even as she prayed that in fact the Reavers would do things in that order, she didn't regret what she had done. She was scared, scared of what would happen to her. But she knew, she had saved Kaylee from that fate and that was the greatest gift Inara could ever give her.


End file.
